New HS Grad Rates: Reminder of Barriers Faced by Poor Kids

America’s New High School Graduation Rate: A Reason to Acknowledge Progress
and a Reminder of Barriers that Students in Poverty Face

Arlington, Va. - Feb. 13. 2015 - Communities In Schools (CIS), the nation’s largest and most effective dropout prevention organization, today released a statement in response to the Department of Education announcement that the national high school graduation rate has hit a new record high of 81 percent.

“It’s clear that there is a strong commitment in this country to help more of America’s high school students graduate,” said Daniel Cardinali, president of Communities In Schools. "But now more than ever for a significant number students who live in poverty, there are still substantial barriers to graduation.”

“Communities In Schools is all too familiar with the challenges and barriers that these students face, which often times can occur both inside and outside the classroom. The lack of life’s basic necessities, like food, shelter, medical care and clothing can make it impossible for a child to focus on the academic subjects they need to succeed in school and achieve in life.”

The new data released by the Department of Education, shows that the U.S. high school graduation rate reached 81 percent during the 2012-2013 school year. It follows another recent report from the Southern Education Foundation which found that low income students are now a majority of the schoolchildren attending the nation’s public schools.

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About Communities In Schools

Working directly in more than 2,300 schools in 25 states and the District of Columbia, Communities In Schools is the nation’s leading dropout prevention organization proven to keep students in school and on the path to graduation. For the 2015-2016 school year, Communities In Schools served nearly 1.5 million students and successfully helped 99 percent of our case-managed students stay in school.